American-style footballs are well known and typically include an inner inflatable air bladder surrounded by an outer cover and enclosed with a lacing. The cover can be formed of one or more cover panels, and most commonly, four cover panels. The lacing is often used to assist in throwing or handling the football.
American football is a fast paced, contact sport typically involving twenty-two players on the football field during play (eleven per team). American football allows for the game ball, typically a generally prolate spheroidal shaped inflatable object, to be moved or repositioned in a large variety of ways during play including being carried, thrown, kicked, pitched, tossed, caught, handed-off, muffed, and fumbled.
The position of a football during a play can be very important information. Organized football games typically include several officials (referees, umpires, head linesmen, line judges, back judges, field judges and side judges) whose primary responsibilities are to monitor play including the position of the football. In recent years, professional football leagues (including the National Football League) and amateur leagues (including the NCAA®) have adopted the use of video replays to assist officials in reviewing disputed calls during the course of a football game. Often the position of a football during the play is the primary issue under dispute. For example, whether the football crossed the goal line of the end zone during a play, or whether a player's forward progress with the football during a play passed the first down marker on the field of play. The goal line is an imaginary plane extending upward from the line of paint at the edge of the end zone (goal line) on the field of play. These decisions or calls by the officials on the field or in the replay booth can be very difficult at times due to line of sight limitations of the officials and/or the cameras used to film the game action.
Further, the players themselves can increase the difficulty of tracking or determining the position of a football during a play. Because football plays involve tackling and blocking, often the players themselves obstruct a clear view of the football during a play. It is also not uncommon for an official to make an incorrect call on a play due to the position of the official during the play and the angle of the official's view of the play itself. Even video replays can result in incorrect decisions or inconclusive evidence based upon the positions of the video cameras taping the football game. Additionally, player's often attempt to reposition and improve the position of the football after the play has been whistled dead or over by the official. In some instances, the official may not detect such late repositioning of the football by a player. An incorrect goal line or first down call can be a determinative factor in the outcome of a football game.
Accordingly, there is an ongoing need to improve the monitoring and observation of the football game action to minimize the occurrences of incorrect decisions by officials, particularly those decisions involving the position of the football during a play.
Video replays have improved the integrity and accuracy of the game official's decisions or calls during a game. However, in many cases, the process of stopping the game to review the video tape evidence of a disputed play can take several minutes. Spectators of football games often find such delays to be too long, boring and/or disruptive to the flow of the game. Many coaches believe a few minute delay to review a disputed call can negatively affect a team's emotional level, and overall momentum. Others believe the time needed to complete a football game in general has been too long, even before the introduction and incorporation of replay reviews of disputed plays.
Therefore, there is also a continuing need for a method or system of more accurately monitoring the football game during play, including the position of the football, without introducing undesirable delays to the football game. Additionally, an ongoing need exists to improve the coverage of a football game itself and to provide more information about various aspects of the game to coaches, officials, players and spectators. It would be desirable to provide detailed information about the movement of a football during a game, such as, for example, the flight of a passed ball, the speed, distance and/or rotation of a passed or kicked football, the exact position of the football during play, whether the football contacted a player, and whether the football was securely maintained by a player.